On reddiquette

reddit is like a busy community park. There’s a lot going on, being run by a lot of diverse groups. Some people are having BBQs, there’s a company picnic, and there’s probably a few people smoking something somewhere. In the “reddit park,” subreddit moderators are like the group organizers, and the site admins are like the groundskeepers (you can get a better description of the roles mods and admins play by reading up on “How reddit Works”). And like the park, when you’re having fun on reddit, you should be respectful of others, you should follow the “park rules,” and — if you want to go that extra mile — you can do things like volunteer to clean up the park.

On reddit, “being respectful” involves doing things such as upvoting good content, downvoting irrelevant content (but don’t downvote good discussions just because you disagree!), marking your submissions as NSFW if they might get someone else fired for viewing at work, and so forth. And don’t litter — that is, when you submit something, it should be because you think that it is genuinely interesting, not just because it’s something you made. Many subreddits prefer that you submit stuff that’s NOT yours, while others prefer it if you only submit items that you’ve created. You should always make it clear whether a submission is your content or someone else’s — don’t try to pass off someone else’s work as your own!

All of the above are just guidelines. How strongly the guidelines are enforced depends on the specific community and moderators of the subreddit in question. Some are strict, some are more laissez-faire, some are contrarian. Many of the more common guidelines are codified into reddiquette. These guidelines are created and monitored by other redditors — not the admins — and reading over them is a good way to learn how to be a better redditor.

Beyond the guidelines are the “park rules” — a small number of cases that we, the admins, reserve for stepping in and taking immediate action against posts, subreddits, and users. We don’t like to have to do it, but we’re also responsible for overseeing the park. Internally, we’ve followed the same set of guidelines for a long time, and none of these should be any surprise to anyone. For the sake of clarity, we’ve put that list in one place. If you’re too lazy to click (really?), here’s the short breakdown:

Don’t break the site or interfere with normal usage of the site for anyone else

If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know that number 3, “No personal information,” can bearecurringproblem. So let this serve as your annual reminder that posting of personal information is NOT COOL. Even if that redditor’s neighbor is destroying puppies using the one ring’s power, there are more appropriate avenues for reporting such offenses (1-800-GANDALF). Remember, you’re probably not getting the whole story and mistakes can ruin the lives of the innocent.